Jaguar Land Rover opens three European hubs for self-driving technology

LONDON (Reuters) – Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover said on Tuesday it is opening three new engineering hubs in Europe to develop autonomous vehicle technologies as part of its partnership with Silicon Valley artificial intelligence company Nvidia (NVDA.O).

Hubs in Munich, Bologna and Madrid will develop the autonomous driving systems for the next generation of JLR luxury cars. JLR already has six global technology centers in the United States, China and Europe.

JLR, a unit of India’s Tata Motors Corporation (TAMO.NS), said the sites were chosen because of the local availability of digital engineering professionals and will create approximately 100 engineering jobs focused on developing driver assistance systems and artificial intelligence for the self-driving cars of the future.

JLR and Nvidia announced a multi-year agreement last year under which they will develop the computer brains and nervous systems of Jaguar and Land Rover cars launched in 2025 and beyond.

The partnership with Nvidia gives JLR a well-funded ally as it tries to catch up with Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and other luxury car rivals in a digital technology arms race.

Reporting by Nick Carey. Editing by Sandra Mahler

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